'When he asked me to be one of his 14 wives, I was smitten': Jill Dodd on life in a harem

On paper, Jill Dodd’s life looked picture perfect. She was 20 years old, living and working in Paris as a model.

But along with the parties and fashion shoots, there was also the sleazy side of the business. She was assaulted and eventually developed an eating disorder.

After almost a year, Jill had had enough. She was looking for an escape

His name was Adnan.

Their eyes locked at party in Monaco. Despite being 24 years her senior, Jill tells 9Honey the attraction was instant.

“I met him in a really romantic way and I fell in love with him over time,”

But this was no ordinary courtship. Jill’s new love interest was Adnan Kashoggi - a Saudi businessman and known arms dealer. He was also married to 13 other women.

He pursued Jill relentlessly. Their relationship playing out all over the globe with romantic dates in Paris, Spain and Africa.

“When he asked me to become one of his [14] wives, I was so smitten by him that I didn't care what the situation was, what I was getting into, because by that point I had already fallen for him,” she adds.

Now 37-years later -- and after 13 years of therapy to overcome her childhood abuse as well as sexual assault during her modelling years -- Dodd has gone back through her journals and is sharing her experiences, in her memoir 'The Currency Of Love'.

Then 20, Jill started dating Adnan Khashoggi who was 24 years her senior and eventually became one of his 14 wives. Image: Supplied

Speaking of her time in the harem, Dodd says Khashoggi mostly kept everything separate but occasionally they’d all be together.

“At times we were under the same roof but in different rooms, at times we were in the same city in different hotels, but he tried to keep it as separate as possible.

“But then there were the nights we would all gather together for dinner and at the dinner I would see these other women and wonder, 'Oh is that one of his girls? Oh is that?'

“Then there was the whole hierarchy. He would have a seating arrangement so that the one sitting opposite him was the one he'd been with the longest. So there was this interesting political situation in the harem and who was the most powerful wife.”

Despite being encouraged to have other boyfriends, Dodd says she didn’t have a sexual relationship with anyone else while they were together.

But when the 22-year-old wanted more from her man, two years into their relationship, the couple eventually split.

“Over time, I really got tired of the whole harem situation and I just wanted to be monogamous with him,” Dodd admits.

“I hadn't learnt to connect to my own voice to say ‘leave all of them and marry me’, I didn't have the confidence to do that. I still had a lot of healing to do to believe in myself.”

During her time in Paris, Jill posed for editorial shoots in Vogue (pictured). Image: Supplied

However, they did stay in touch and almost rekindled their romance many years later while Khashoggi was staying at the King of Morocco’s palace.

But Dodd turned down the private jet he was ready to send her because of a jealous boyfriend in Los Angeles, where she had returned to live by that point.

The former model says her connection to the arms dealer was a deep one, which left her even more shocked when he died the same day her book was published.

It’s believed he knew of its release and was in fact happy to re-live his glory days before passing. It’s understood someone read the 82-year-old excerpts.

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In her book, Jill also looks back on her modelling days. Along with appearing in Vogue, Dodd says the good times and big jobs were a pay-off for the ugly side of the industry.

Model-turned-designer, Jill Dodd, has spoken out about the seedy underbelly of the modelling world in her new book. Image: Supplied

Forced by her agent to attend parties where she was ogled by old men and even attacked at one, Dodd says she realised if she stopped going to such parties, she stopped getting sent for job interviews.

“You might go to a pimp's house in the morning - because your agent sent you there you can tell it's a pimp's house - but then in the afternoon, you might go for a national Coca Cola commercial.

“So you try to block one out and you hopefully get the other one, the good job.”

And while reliving those years has been a somewhat painful experience, Dodd says it’s been gratifying to see how others in the industry have responded.

“I've had other models say 'oh my god, this could have been my journals that I wrote'. And other models that have come over and sat on my bed and let it all out - everything that happened to them, that they've never told anyone for 30 years.”

The beauty eventually left the modelling world and studied fashion design, going on to found the surf brand ROXY. Image: Supplied

But sadly, she says, not much has changed over that time in the industry.

Dodd, who suffered from an eating disorder during her years in the industry, also calls out the focus on size in the modelling world.

“I've heard so many models say their agents thought the eating disorder was a good thing because it'll make you get more work.

“It's so sick what goes on - I knew people living on popcorn, other girls would drink wine and eat lettuce, that was the only two things they ate. Some ate cotton balls, so they wouldn't be hungry.”

“It's completely unrealistic to look like that unless you’re sick,” she adds.

While the book ends with Dodd’s graduation from design school (which Khashoggi is believed to have funded) the now mother-of-three has actually gone on to become a big name in the industry and founded the surf brand ROXY in 1989.

Dodd now does speaking engagements at fashion schools and with models, giving them all a heads up about the realities of the industry and hopes that by telling her story, she’ll encourage others who have been abused to seek help.

And despite her own experiences, Dodd says if her two daughters - a 22-year-old and 17-year-old - wanted to go into the biz, she’d support them.

“I would encourage them but I would arm them with the knowledge so they don't get tripped up, so they go in with their eyes open,” she says.

The book is already being talked about as a movie or TV series. Image: Margo Moritz

The autobiography is already being considered for a movie adaptation, with two companies currently in talks with the author.

However, Dodd jokes that she’s waiting for Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman to call, who have spoken out about sharing women-driven stories.

"I actually tried to reach out to Reese Witherspoon but it was before I even had a publisher.

"If she even saw it, it wasn't the final manuscript, so I don't know what she saw...but I'd love another shot," she laughs.

Jill Dodd’s book 'The Currency of Love' is available now.

Jill's book The Currency of Love is available now. Image: Simon and Schuster